A common question facing a lot of business owners and managers these days: BlackBerry or iPhone?

BlackBerry has been the dominant business phone for years, but the iPhone has made a solid push into their territory in recent months with strong efforts to make their notoriously consumer-oriented product more business-friendly.

As a response to this invasion of its territory, the makes of the BlackBerry are incorporating into their soon-to-be-released latest version some of the features that makes the iPhone such a consumer favorite — in particular, the iPhone’s famous touch-screen feature, which the new BlackBerry seeks to not only copy but improve upon.

From the Associated Press:

Research in Motion Ltd., maker of the BlackBerry, is taking on Apple Inc. with a touch-screen phone that puts a new twist on the technology.

RIM is known for its e-mail-oriented phones with large keypads. With the new model being announced Wednesday, the Storm, RIM is for the first time giving up the physical keypad in favor of a large screen, just like the one on Apple’s iPhone.

But RIM has listened to users who find the iPhone’s glass screen awkward to type on because its virtual buttons provide no tactile feedback. The Storm’s whole screen is backed by springs, and when pressed, it gives under the finger.

The long-rumored Storm will be available from Verizon Wireless in the U.S. and from Vodafone Group PLC overseas before the holidays, the companies said. No price has been disclosed yet.

Read the full story by the AP’s Peter Svensson here.